Alphakitty Send Message

This is one of those teas I’d never buy for myself but I really wanted to try. I mean, it’s a bit risky to buy a pouch when you can’t know precisely what the flavor is going to be! However, I was super excited to see this in my grab bag because fruity greens are so good for summer and this seems like the perfect blend to experiment with.

Since each cup is going to be different in terms of flavor profile, I’m not going to give this a number rating. I’ve only cold brewed it once, but I got a wonderful cherry berry flavor, really bright and juicy and fruity. There was a hint of strawberry and blueberry, maybe currant going on in the background. Cherry was definitely predominant, and it reminded me a bit of a green-based version of DAVIDs Cherry Blossom. However, I think the “tea” part is more prominent here, which is surprising given how heavily flavored I assumed it would be. There’s a lovely butteriness going on, hints of grassy green poking through all the fruity goodness. This is really fantastic cold, super refreshing! I’m looking forward to making this a lot in the next few weeks, I want to see what other kinds of flavor blends I get!

I have to admit that while I was preparing this cold brew, I thought it was a totally different tea. I meant to make some iced Mandarin Silk, but apparently grabbed this instead. By the time I realized the leaves were already in there, but Kittena was nice enough to send me quite a bit so I’ll still be able to make it hot! This sounds like it would be interesting cold anyway, I mean anything lemon practically screams to be tried over ice.

It brewed up really pale, and I was wondering if maybe I didn’t give it enough time… but 14 hours should be more than enough! Indeed, it’s quite strong, I guess it’s just a light tea. The lemon is really front and center, bright and a bit assertive. It’s tempered by a nice creaminess, with backing floral notes from the white base. Honestly I’d never associate this with Earl Grey if I didn’t know there was bergamot in there, it’s very much a nice lemon white to me. Not that it’s a bad thing, I think lemon overpowers other citrus notes very easily so it masks the bergamot. It reminded me a bit of a lemon tart filling, not mouth-puckeringly sour but with a bit of a bite and a nice sweetness as well.

I went through my notes and noticed that I forgot to write anything about this 11 days ago. Almost two weeks! Oh my. Well, I still remember what it tasted like at least, though honestly I think this is kind of a forgettable tea which is why I, well, forgot it.

I mean, it’s not a bad tea, it’s just, you know, average. A nice chai mix but with no spices that really jump out at you, a gentle black base, soft chocolate flavor that isn’t very bold. I definitely don’t regret drinking it though, and it was a tasty cup even though it didn’t make a big impression. I picked it out of my box from LiberTEAs because I wanted something chocolatey and comforting, and it definitely hit the spot.

It’s pretty far from Christmas, but this smells so good and for some reason I am in a fireplace kind of mood. Maybe it’s the rain + having the AC on, but I wanted something soothing and warming. The ingredients in this fit perfectly!

The dominant flavor here is clove, and as I’ve mentioned before I loooove clove. It’s a complex flavor though, with hints of cinnamon and orange peeking through, and a bit of floralness from the rose petals. The black base is nice, though I’ve found that true of almost all of Upton’s blends. They’re very robust and stand up to bold flavors like the ones here, so while there’s a lot going on Melange Noel is still very tea-y if that makes any sense. I mean, I don’t feel like I am drinking mulled cider or a Christmas drink. It’s very wintery, yes, but a wintery tea, not a wintery drink. Err… I really am not sure if that makes sense, I’m a bit sleep-deprived! As “cold weather” as this is I made a second cup iced and it was just as good, maybe better!

Sometimes I have trouble differentiating Earl Greys. There are just so many, and the basic ones blend together. I do love them though, but I prefer blends with a little something extra to make it stand out. But I’ve been looking for a good everyday, “plain” EG so I was pleased to get this as a sample from Fusion Teas.

This smells strongly bergamot-y in the bag, but it’s more subtle brewed. The citrus is complemented by some faint smoky and fruity notes, and the black base is just as strong if not stronger than these competing flavors. It’s a particularly smooth EG, good both with and without cream & sugar. This is a good evening earl, without some of the astringency or briskness in some blends.

I’m a bit behind on my tasting notes, this was from 2 days ago I think. Since the short cold brews have worked so well with other Caraway teas, so I decided to do it with this one as well. I think I left it in a little too long, since the flavors were pretty strong, but still not overwhelming or artificial.

I’ve become very fond of currant flavored teas recently, though I find it usually pairs best with a black base. I found the idea of a white currant blend very appealing (both with a white base & white currants!), so it was pretty impossible to resist at the sale price. There are whole currants in here, which is always a good sign! They look like baby cranberries, those white ones that sometimes get mixed into bags. There’s a bit of a pink tinge as well, so the resemblance is strong! This is a pretty fruity tea with heavy berry notes, but I don’t know if I would identify it right away with currant. Then again I’m not that familiar with the white variety—it seems to lack a jammy, sweet quality though and is less subtle. The white base works well here, adding supporting floral and fruity notes along with a bit of sweet grassiness. It’s a nice iced tea, though perhaps not exactly what I was expecting.

I got a teabag of this in my fire sale/tea clearing out box from Emilie. Tonight is going to be long and full of work, so I needed something to keep me alert and perky, but is low maintenance to make. Bagged assam fits that perfectly! I’m honestly not even in a “tea mood” but I find when that happens I need to push through and make something simple that I know I’ll like, or I end up taking an extended tea break.

This is a simple but nice assam. It’s bold, bright, brisk… lots of b-adjectives. It’s not overly complex and is quite smooth, with a soft molasses tone. There’s not a lot of malty-ness, which is a bit disappointing since that’s my favorite aspect of assam. But for a bagged tea it’s quite pleasant!

Today I was hit with tea tragedy! Before I get into the gritty details, this sample is from LiberTEAS though I have a sneaking suspicion it was sent to me by someone else as well. Swap confusion! Anyway, I only have enough for 2 cups of this, which is important to my tragic tale.

So, I left some leaves in my IngenuiTEA for a few days… I’ve been drinking only iced/bagged tea and totally forgot about them. It smelled really gross and though I rinsed it multiple times with boiling water the funky smell was not leaving. I don’t like to use soap on any of my tea ware, but I kind of had to in this situation. I used a teeny bit and rinsed it for 10 solid minutes, getting every corner. There was no soap left, I was sure of it! It didn’t even smell faintly of soap! I was wrong, horribly horribly wrong.

I poured the water over the leaves for this tea and SOAP BUBBLES. I panicked and skimmed them off the top, hoping for the best. But alas, soapy tea. It’s actually almost drinkable, and I think it’s honestly a mental block more than a taste issue because you can’t taste soap. But I know it’s there! A shame, since this tea smells divine and in the sip I took there was a lot of maple and brown sugar flavor. I only have one try left with this blend, hopefully it works out better next time.

I have a love-hate relationship with banana. Mostly I hate it. Fresh banana grosses me out, and I dislike banana-flavored candies. But I do like it in baked goods (banana oatmeal walnut cookies, oh yeah!). I was really contemplating putting “please no banana!” in the notes on my grab bag but I’d already requested no rooibos and didn’t want to be too demanding. And there was only 1 banana-flavored tea, what were the chances that I’d get it? Funnily enough I got 3 teas I had been hoping for and… this. Ahh, my luck is both wonderful and terrible.

This smells like runts. Banana runts. I was all ready to swap it away instantly, but the bf saw it and wanted to try it. Funnily enough, I showed him the Banana Foster blend since it seemed like something he’d enjoy and it was met with a resounding “no.” I was thinking “oh we’ll make one cup, then I’ll swap it.” However, it was not to be, and I am officially adding this to my cupboard because it was a huge hit! Well, not really with me—I think it’s okay and tolerable (which is saying a lot, since the smell of the dry leaves totally horrified me), but it’s not something I am gonna be “oh I want more of this right now!”

The bf LOVES it. I mean, almost as much as Paris. I can see why: the grassy, earthy notes of yerba mate are right up his alley, and the banana is subdued enough to not be overwhelming. There’s just a hint of cherry which makes everything else pop. So I’m actually pretty happy I wound up with this: it’s always great to find a tea for someone else in your life I think.

I have been wanting to try some spicy teas, so it was a pleasant surprise to get this in the 52teas grab bag. Spicy AND chocolate? Why yes please. I’m surprised this only has one tasting note, since it seems like anything chocolate = instantly popular.

I made the mistake of sticking my nose in the bag to sniff when I got this, and got cayenne in my nostrils. Not the most pleasant experience, but it meant that this had to be spicy! I was disappointed by the spice level in Mango Diablo, so I was kind of happy to have a burning nose. And yes, this blend has a lot of kick! It’s not “top of the mouth chili pepper” heat, but more “back of the mouth slow burning.” At first sip it’s like chicory coffee (which is what I automatically associate roasted mate with), then a bit of deep, dark chocolate and them pow cayenne! In fact, I think the spicy element is the strongest taste here: the chocolate is probably the weakest. You can definitely taste it, but it’s not super rich creamy chocolate. I actually like that it’s subtle, since it doesn’t have a dessert-y feel and is light even with all the rich flavors going on.